Belarus' president pardons 30 political prisoners

TALLINN, Estonia — Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday pardoned 30 people serving prison sentences for “protest-related crimes,” his press office said, the third time in three months that the authoritarian leader has pardoned prisoners.

The names of those released were not published, but seven of them are women. Lukashenko's press service said all those pardoned had “admitted their guilt, sincerely repented and promised to lead a law-abiding life.”

There are about 1,400 political prisoners behind bars in Belarus, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Byaljatski and Polish newspaper journalist Andrzej Poczobut, whose release Poland is demanding. According to the Viasna human rights center, at least six political prisoners have died behind bars.

Last month, Lukashenko pardoned 30 people convicted of participating in mass protests, including journalists and activists with serious illnesses. In July, 18 political prisoners were also released, including the leader of the Belarusian Popular Front, Ryhor Kastusiou, who is suffering from a serious cancer.

In 2020, Belarus was rocked by the largest protests in its history. The election brought Lukashenko a sixth term in office and was condemned as fraudulent by the opposition and the West. According to Viasna, 65,000 people have been arrested since the protests began and hundreds of thousands have fled Belarus.

Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya welcomed the pardons, saying there were still “thousands of innocent political prisoners” behind bars, including her husband Siarhei, who is serving a 19.5-year sentence for organizing the 2020 protests.

Repression in Belarus would “continue and intensify,” Tichanovskaya said. “We need constant international pressure to achieve the release of all political prisoners.”

The human rights center Viasna said that this week alone, at least 33 activists in Belarus would be put on trial for participating in protests. Over the past three months, more than 200 people have been convicted in Belarus for protests.

Analysts say Lukashenko is trying to improve his image ahead of the new presidential campaign. Belarus will hold presidential elections in 2025, and Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 30 years, has already announced that he will run for the seventh time.

As soon as prisoners are released, “their places are immediately taken by other political prisoners,” which shows that the authorities do not seek liberalization, said analyst Valery Karbalevich.

By releasing political prisoners, he said, the Belarusian authorities were trying to send a signal to the West to “humanize” the country’s image so that the 2025 presidential elections would be recognized.